Saponite Mineral Data

[Newest Minerals] [Equipment] [Analytical Services] [About Us] [Mineral Gallery] [eBay Store]
See Also: [Diamond Crystals] [Mineral News] [Hudson Institute] [Minerals on CDROM]
Rare Minerals, Meteorites, Equipment and Analytical Services
Excalibur Mineral Company, World leaders in the supply of rare species
Serving the scientific and collector communities since 1974

General Saponite Information

Chemical Formula:

(Ca/2,Na)0,3(Mg,Fe++)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2•4(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 480.19 gm

Sodium 0.48 % Na 0.65 % Na₂O

Calcium 0.83 % Ca 1.17 % CaO

Magnesium 11.39 % Mg 18.89 % MgO

Aluminum 5.62 % Al 10.62 % Al₂O₃

Iron 8.72 % Fe 11.22 % FeO

Silicon 17.55 % Si 37.54 % SiO₂

Hydrogen 2.10 % H 18.76 % H₂O

Oxygen 53.31 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 98.83 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Ca_0.1Na_0.1Mg_2.25Fe²⁺_0.75Si₃AlO₁₀(OH)₂•4(H₂O)

Environment:

Amygdaloidal cavities in basalts.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1758

Locality:

Lizard Head in Cornwall, England. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

From the Latin, sapo meaning "soap.'

Name Pronunciation:

Saponite

Synonym:

Griffithite-Ferroan

Piotine

Sobotkite - Al bearing

Saponite Image

Images:

Saponite

Comments: Light brown saponite pseudomorphs after stilbite crystals up to 6 mm.
Location: Thetford Mines, Mégantic Co., Québec, Canada. Scale: 25x25x12 mm.
© John Betts - Fine Minerals

Saponite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =0.5786:1:1.3537

Cell Dimensions:

a = 5.3, b = 9.16, c = 12.4, Z = 2; beta = 96.5° V = 598.13 Den(Calc)= 2.67

Crystal System:

Monoclinic - PrismaticH-M Symbol (2/m) Space Group: C 2/m

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 12.3(1), 1.53(0.7), 3.1(0.5),

Physical Properties of Saponite

Cleavage:

{001} Perfect

Color:

White, Yellowish white, Greenish white, Reddish white, Bluish white.

Density:

2.3

Diaphaneity:

Subtranslucent to opaque

Fracture:

Earthy - Dull, clay-like fractures with no visible crystalline affinities, (e.g. howlite).

Habit:

Granular - Generally occurs as anhedral to subhedral crystals in matrix.

Habit:

Massive - Uniformly indistinguishable crystals forming large masses.

Hardness:

1.5-2 - Talc-Gypsum

Luminescence:

Non-fluorescent.

Luster:

Earthy (Dull)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Saponite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= 0.026 (Excellent) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= 0.161 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.1899,KPDmeas= 0.2204,KC= 0.2264
Ncalc = 1.52 - 1.6

Optical Data:

Biaxial (-), a=1.479-1.49, b=1.51-1.525, g=1.511-1.527, bire=0.0320-0.0370, 2V(Calc)=20-26, 2V(Meas)=0-10. Dispersion none.

Calculated Properties of Saponite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.32 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Saponite =2.30 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.02
Boson Index = 0.98

Photoelectric:

PE_Saponite= 3.76 barns/electron
U=PE_Saponite x rElectron Density= 8.75 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Saponite is Not Radioactive

Saponite Classification

Dana Class:

71.03.01b.02 (71)Phyllosilicate Sheets of Six-Membered Rings

(71.03)with 2:1 clays

(71.03.01b)Smectite group (Trioctahedral Smectites)

71.03.01b.01 Sobotkite? (K,Ca0.5)0.33(Mg,Al)3(Si3Al)O10(OH)2•1-5(H2O) Unk. Mono

71.03.01b.02 Saponite (Ca/2,Na)0,3(Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2•4(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

71.03.01b.02a Ferrosaponite! Ca0.3(Fe,Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2•4(H2O) C? Mono

71.03.01b.03 Sauconite Na0,3Zn3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2•4(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

71.03.01b.04 Hectorite Na0,3(Mg,Li)3Si4O10(OH)2 C 2/m 2/m

71.03.01b.05 Pimelite? Ni3Si4O10(OH)2•4(H2O) Unk. Hex

71.03.01b.06 Stevensite (Ca0.5,Na)0.33(Mg,Fe)3Si4O10(OH)2•n(H2O) Unk (ORTH ?) Mono

71.03.01b.07 Yakhontovite (Ca,K)0.5(Cu,Fe,Mg)2Si4O10(OH)2•3(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

71.03.01b.08 Zincsilite Zn3Si4O10(OH)2•4(H2O)(?) C 2/m ? 2/m

Strunz Class:

09.EC.45 09 - SILICATES (Germanates)

09.E - Phyllosilicates

09.EC -Phyllosilicates with mica sheets, composed of tetrahedral and octahedral nets

09.EC.45 Griffithite* 4(Mg,Fe,Ca)O.(Al,Fe)2O3.5SiO2•7(H2O) Mono

09.EC.45 Hectorite Na0,3(Mg,Li)3Si4O10(OH)2 C 2/m 2/m

09.EC.45 Swinefordite (Li,Ca0.5,Na)0.72(Li,Al,Mg)2.66(Si,Al)4O10(OH,F)2•2(H2O) C 2/m (MON or ORTH) 2/m

09.EC.45 Zincsilite Zn3Si4O10(OH)2•4(H2O)(?) C 2/m ? 2/m

09.EC.45 Saponite (Ca/2,Na)0,3(Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2•4(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

09.EC.45 Sauconite Na0,3Zn3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2•4(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

09.EC.45 Spadaite MgSiO2(OH)2•(H2O)(?) Ortho

09.EC.45 Sobotkite? (K,Ca0.5)0.33(Mg,Al)3(Si3Al)O10(OH)2•1-5(H2O) Unk. Mono

09.EC.45 Stevensite (Ca0.5,Na)0.33(Mg,Fe)3Si4O10(OH)2•n(H2O) Unk (ORTH ?) Mono

09.EC.45 Ferrosaponite! Ca0.3(Fe,Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2•4(H2O) C? Mono

Other Saponite Information

References:

NAME( Duda&Rejl90) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Ford32)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Saponite :
1 - Alkali-Nuts(English)
2 - Alkali-Nuts(Francais)
3 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
4 - Athena
5 - EUROmin Project
6 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
7 - GeoScienceWorld
8 - Google Images
9 - Google Scholar
10 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
11 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
12 - MinDAT
13 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
14 - Online Mineral Museum
15 - QUT Mineral Atlas
16 - Ruff.Info

Search for Saponite using:

[ALTAVISTA] [AOL] [bing] [GeoScienceWorld] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [MAMMA] [MSN.COM] [Netscape] [Scirus] [Teoma] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO]

Visit our Advertisers for Saponite :

B & L Fine Minerals

Dan Weinrich Fine Minerals

Dan Weinrich Auctions

John Betts Fine Minerals

Lapis Mineral Journal

Mineral News

UV Tools

Wrights Rock Shop

Translate Saponite Mineral Data :

Ask about Saponite here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Español

Print or Cut-and-Paste your Saponite Specimen Label here :

Saponite

(Ca/2,Na)0,3(Mg,Fe++)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2•4(H2O)
Dana No: 71.03.01b.02 Strunz No: 09.EC.45
Locality:

Notes: